Foxconn Technology Group, the maker of Apple’s iPhone, is investing at least 5 billion yuan (US$811 million) to develop electric car manufacturing in a Chinese province.
The Taiwanese company is making the investment in China’s Shanxi province, it said on Wednesday. Foxconn already has two factories in the province. One of these assembles smartphones while the other is devoted to producing robots and automation equipment, it added.
Foxconn has largely focused on electronics manufacturing for clients including Microsoft, Sony and Amazon.com. But the company is branching out into new business sectors, as a way to grow its revenue streams. Analysts estimate that it makes as much as half of its revenue from assembling Apple products.
In June, Foxconn’s CEO Terry Gou said that the company is targeting to build electric cars with a price of less than $15,000.
Foxconn has already been developing electric car batteries for some time, and the company has many customers for them, he added. It also manufactures the touchscreen panels found inside the electric cars from Tesla Motors.
Gou was mum in June on the exact details for the company’s electric car production, and what partnerships it might include. But the Taiwanese company could end up targeting China for its electric car sales. The country is a major market, and its government has been trying to promote sales of electric cars.